Two women accused of stealing, reselling 4,000 books worth $325,000

Tanya Vatter and Vanessa Tabora might have been your average college students looking to make some cash during the recession by selling used textbooks.

But the folks at Chimes Textbook Exchange in New Orleans suspected something more than an extraordinary class schedule or personal library after the ladies began cashing in books almost every day between January and March, sometimes twice a day.

Authorities say Vatter, 33, of Metairie, and Tabora, 23, of Kenner, have admitted to stealing books from at least seven Barnes & Nobles stores in Louisiana and Mississippi - an estimated 4,000 books worth $325,000 since August, according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office incident and arrest reports. The two took their stolen tomes to Chimes, where they received 30 to 50 percent of the cover price.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's OfficeTanya Vatter admitted to deputies that she and a partner stole about 4,000 books from Barnes & Noble book stores in Louisiana and Mississippi since August.

And that's why they eventually were caught, according to Chimes Manager Devin Villegas.

"It's really fortunate that they tried to sell those books to us. If they sold them all over the place, we would have never known and they never would have been caught," he said.

Vanessa Tabora told detectives all the books she and a partner stole were resold at the same New Orleans book reseller, which eventually led to their arrests.
Officials with Barnes & Nobles were asked Tuesday about the case, but had not commented as of Tuesday evening.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office

According to the incident report, Vatter and Tabora admitted stealing books from Barnes & Nobles outlets in Metairie, Harvey, Lafayette, Gulfport, Miss., and two stores in Baton Rouge. The vast majority of the thefts were from Jefferson Parish locations, the report said. Both women confessed to taking between 15 to 20 books per day, with an average per book price of $80, according to the arrest report. It was not clear exactly how the women managed to spirit away so many books without garnering the attention of bookstore workers.

But Chimes staffers certainly took note as the women began turning up with so many books to sell, including multiple copies of certain textbooks, according to Villegas.

"No student uses five copies of a Photoshop book. No student has a bunch of medical dictionaries," he said.

Associated Press

All of the approximately 4,000 books stolen were taken from at least seven Barnes & Noble book stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, police said. By February, the women apparently stepped up the pace. According to a sampling of receipts turned over to the Sheriff's Office, Tabora visited Chimes every day between March 9 and 12 and came back after another four days, turning in $3,908 worth of books. For that haul, she received $1,139. Vatter visited every day between March 9 and 13, and came back twice on three of those days. She returned on March 16 and made another double visit March 31. Those 11 visits netted a total of $2,605 for the books she traded in, the incident report said.

"The just got bolder and bolder," Villegas said.

By this time, Chimes employees felt certain something criminal was afoot. But Villegas said there's no real way determine the origin of a stolen book. . After checking in with all local universities and bookstores, Chimes determined the books came from Barnes & Nobles and contacted the company's New York office in February. The company eventually sent an investigator down and the two bookstores worked together for a several weeks to put together a case.

The Barnes & Noble investigator contacted the Sheriff's Office about the thefts on April 3, according to Sgt. Larry Dyess, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Warrants for Tabora and Vatter were issued in early May. Tabora was taken into custody May 21, Vatter on May 27. Both were booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with one count of theft greater than $500. Tabora and Vatter have since been released Tabora posted a $10,000 bond, according to jail records. Vatter's bond information wasn't available. Neither could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Villegas said textbook theft is often difficult to solve. Chimes, a Louisiana-based bookstore has seen its fair share of such thefts involving students. But Villegas said he's never seen a case like this one.

"I guess when you can just get money, it's hard to stop and slow down," he said. "They just kept coming in with more and more and more."

.......Michelle Hunter can be reached at mhunter@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7054.